I know that reads sarcastically, but I’m actually one of the last people to complain about someone making money by providing a product people like. In fact, kudos to them for some brilliant marketing. That’s what it is, after all. I’d be willing to bet they’ll spend more on the ad campaign promoting their “charity” than they will actually end up donating. Let’s be real. Starbuck’s is not a charity. It’s a business.

I’m a firm believer that charity should never be an obligation but rather something people choose to do in following their own passions. If you decide to do something charitable, don’t do it out of a sense of guilt. But I would like to offer this suggestion. If you feel guilty for paying $4 for an unhealthy treat while people are dying in Africa, just skip the drink for one day and instead donate that money to an AIDS charity of your choice. Let’s do a little math.

I just checked my local Starbuck’s in Keene and as of tonight (11/28/08) their drinks were $3.50, $4.05 and $4.35 depending on the size. I think one was a little more than the others and I imagine the prices vary by location. One of the employees said that most people get the middle size so I’ll go with that for simplicity. As of this writing, there are over 550,000 people planning to attend this event, which I guess means they’re going to buy one or more of these drinks during the event time period. At 5 cents a drink, that amounts to $27,500! Certainly not chump change, and that’s assuming they only buy one drink. Oh, and it’s over $2 million for Starbuck’s, but it’s well-earned in my opinion after such a brilliant feel-good marketing plan. However, if each one of those 550,000 plus people skipped buying that drink for just one day, say World AIDS Day (Dec 1st), and instead donated what they would have paid directly to charity, those charities would get over $2 million! (instead of Starbuck’s)

I’ve created an alternative event on Facebook sponsored by the Anarchy In Your Head Fan Club for people who will skip one day of Starbuck’s and donate the cost of the drink they would have purchased to their preferred AIDS charity. I plan to participate myself and I suspect it will be a greater contribution than anyone gives simply by buying lots of Starbuck’s drinks. However, if you see someone bouncing off the walls for a month solid, it’s possible I’m mistaken about that. To give the equivalent of the cost of one drink by actually buying the drinks, at 5 cents donation per, you’d have to buy 81 of them for a total of of $328.05 not counting tax!

In the meantime, think about the emotional health or unhealth of a society with a moral framework based on positive obligations and an expectation of serving your fellow man. While sincere charitable acts from the heart can be very healthy for both the giver and the receiver, I happen to think the former is unhealthy and even destructive, but I’ll address that in more detail another time.

Note that this is not any kind of boycott of Starbuck’s. If you like it, by all means, enjoy it. I’m just trying to get people to see this promotion for what it is, without rose-colored glasses. That’s not a “RED” pun.